JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
THE GAME: Bentley (6-2 overall) @ Millersville (3-6 overall), Saturday, 1 p.m., Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium, Millersville.
This is a non-conference game; Bentley, located in Waltham, Massachusetts, a Boston suburb, plays in the Northeast-10 Conference.
ON THE AIR: You can listen to the game on WPDC-AM 1600, and you can hear live streaming audio at redzonemedia.com.
THE SERIES: This is the first meeting between the Marauders and the Falcons.
THE COACHES: MU’s Joe Trainer is in his third year and he’s 13-17; Bentley’s Peter Yetten is in his 29th year and he’s 213-72-3.
MILLERSVILLE LAST WEEK: The Marauders forced seven turnovers on the way to a 16-0 win at Cheyney. It was MU’s first victory via shutout this season. … DB Brandon Shelton picked off Cheyney QB Derrick Murry two times in the first half, including a pick-6 on the first play from scrimmage, taking an interception 60 yards to the house just 21 seconds into the game. It was the second game in a row that Shelton returned a pick for a TD; he took one back 21 yards for a TD two weeks ago against Bloom. … Julius Carter and Brandon Tyler also picked off passes for MU, which snapped its three-game losing skid, and still hasn’t lost to Cheyney since 1983. … FB Brad Lantz carried 23 times for 133 yards, including an 18-yard TD run. It was the third time this season Lantz rushed for 100 or more yards.
MILLERSVILLE SCHEDULE/RESULTS: 8-25 @ Shepherd (L 36-7), 9-8 @ Slippery Rock (L 21-5), 9-15 Lock Haven (W 19-10), 9-22 @ IUP (L 45-0), 9-29 @ East Stroudsburg (W 36-24), 10-6 West Chester (L 42-14), 10-13 Shippensburg (L 23-14), 10-20 @ Bloomsburg (L 42-28), 10-27 @ Cheyney (W 16-0), 11-3 Bentley, 11-10 Kutztown.
BENTLEY LAST WEEK: Falcons rolled to a 52-6 romp over Saint Anselm. Nope, I’ve never heard of Saint Anselm, either, so don’t feel bad. … D gave up less than 300 yards for the seventh time in the last eight games. … Starting QB John White tossed three TD passes and backup Henry Morris had a pair of TD throws. Jon Kaczka had two TD catches for the Falcons, who won their second game in a row.
BENTLEY SCHEDULE/RESULTS: 9-7 @ Southern Connecticut State (L 31-24), 9-14 American International (W 48-23), 9-22 @ Merrimack (W 31-26), 9-28 Assumption (W 22-13), 10-6 @ Pace (W 25-6), 10-12 C.W. Post (L 30-27 in 2 OT), 10-20 @ Stonehill (W 24-17), 10-27 St. Anselm (W 52-6), 11-3 @ MU, 11-10 @ Bryant.
ABOUT MILLERSVILLE: Here’s a good one to get you started – five of MU’s six losses have come to regionally ranked teams, so if you’re wondering why the Marauders are three games under .500, look at the schedule – which also featured some ungodly road trips early in the season. … MU has just 11 giveaways, but is averaging just 241 yards a game. … FB Brad Lantz has rushed for a team-leading 690 yards. … QB Jamal Smith has rushed for 490 yards and passed for 670 yards on just 52-of-139 completions. … WR Randall Eggleton (18-258) is Smith’s favorite target. … MU is allowing 27 points and 377 yards a game. … This is MU’s first game against a Northeast-10 Conference opponent since 1995.
ABOUT BENTLEY: Stingy D has allowed just six rushing TDs this season, and has sacked opposing quarterbacks 33 times, while holding opposing QBs to complete just 48.5 percent of their attempts. … Falcons are ranked ninth in NCAA Division 2 Northeast Region poll, and needs wins against MU and in Week 10 against conference foe Bryant to make the NCAA playoffs for the third time in five years. … QB John White needs 168 passing yards for 5,000 in his career. He has 17 TD tosses this season. … RB Luis Cotto averages 92.2 yards a game, third-best in the Northeast-10. He leads the Falcons with 738 yards, and has an outside shot of becoming just the seventh player in the history of the program to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. … This is the fourth year in a row that Bentley has taken on a PSAC team. The Falcons fell to Edinboro (47-44) in the 2004 NCAA playoffs, they lost to East Stroudsburg (72-17, ouch) in 2005, and they edged East Stroudsburg (9-6) last year.
THE PICK: I know jack about Bentley, but thumbing through the Falcons’ press release for the week, these guys certainly sound pretty good – on paper. This White guy can wing it around, and the Falcons’ D isn’t giving up very much. And their special teams have some unbelievable numbers, so they’re strong in the kicking game. But they’ve beaten teams like American International, Merrimack, Assumption and Saint Anselm, so your guess is as good as mine. Marauders are feeling frisky after a shutout at Cheyney (devil’s advocate: if you force seven turnovers, and one of them is returned for a pick-6, you’d think you’d get more than 16 points, but I digress), and you know they’d love to start their two-game, end-of-the-season home stand with a W. What to do, what to do? This Bentley outfit sounds awfully tricky, and since MU’s offense still makes me scratch my head, I’m going to give the Falcons the edge – even on the road, even after a long bus trip to “Amish Country” as it says on their press release. I kid you not. It’s on the team’s webpage. Check it out. Bentley 24, Millersville 14. Cheer up. You can still grab a slice at the Sugar Bowl after the game. And come on out next week for the season finale against Kutztown.
